My areas of ignorance
09/08/16 05:19
There was a time when I paid closer attention to the Olympic games. I think that I got out of the habit mostly because I’ve gotten out of the habit of watching television. There are so many things that I enjoy doing with my time. And simply not turning on the television gives me a gift of time to read, work in my garden, go paddling and do a hundred other things that I like to do. In this busy, hectic society of ours the gift of time is a precious thing and I enjoy it. Most of the time the gift is free. There isn’t much of a downside to it. Occasionally, I am uninformed about the topics of conversation in the room. My friends are getting used to my response when they ask, “Did you see . . .?”
I do know where to go on the Internet to find a table of medals awarded, so I know that the US is leading in the overall medal count followed by Japan, Russia, Italy and Australia. Given the number of Russian athletes who failed to qualify the medal count is impressive, though only two of Russia’s 10 medals are gold. But that is about it for what I know about the Olympics. I haven’t watched a single competition live and I didn’t even look up video footage of the opening ceremonies, choosing to look at a few still photos instead.
That is only one aspect of my cultural deprivation. There are a lot of things I don’t know. I don’t go to movies often and haven’t kept up with the summer blockbusters. I’ve been meaning to go to the new Star Trek movie, and I heard that the new Ice Age movie is fun. Other hit movies don’t hold much appeal for me. I don’t like the name “Suicide Squad,” and I see enough of suicide in real life to think that it can’t possibly be entertainment. I’ve skipped all the other Bourne movies and we are currently without pets, so their secret lives is not very intriguing to me at the moment.
If you want to have an in depth conversation with me, the topics of television and movies might be good to avoid.
Then there is the subject of motorcycles. You’d think that anyone living where I do would have some knowledge and expertise about the Sturgis Rally and Races. After all, we’re surrounded by motorcycles. I’ve learned to be a cautious driver and look very carefully for motorcycles. I want all of the riders to enjoy the hills and remain safe as they do. I’m the right age to recognize some of the concert headliners such as Willie Nelson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Wolfman Jack. But Five Finger Death Punch, Pop Evil, Sweet Cyanide, The Flaunt Girls, Reformed Whores, and the Living Deads don’t sound like acts a minister should be familiar with in the first place. I enjoy looking at the beautiful paint jobs on the bikes parked on main street, but I am not informed about the different brands, different engine sizes, and other features of motorcycles. The biggest motorcycle I’ve ever ridden is a Honda 350 and I haven’t ridden a motorcycle in about 40 years.
I don’t have any tattoos and have no plans on getting one this year.
The Sturgis Rally is big news in our town, but I’m not really in a position to engage in intelligent conversation on the subject.
My cultural ignorance is generally accepted by my friends who are able to talk about canoes, kayaks, hiking, the animals of the hills, religion, fiction, science, poetry and other topics about which I have some knowledge.
And I’m always willing to talk about the Chicago Cubs. Holding strong at the front of their division with the best record in baseball this year. After a mere century and a bit since a world series win, this could be the year.
Here is the problem. Movies, television and motorcycles aren’t the only topics about which I lack information and expertise.
I know nothing about rugby.
I know one team has the ball and the other team defends until the offensive team loses the ball or scores. I know that a forward pass is illegal in the game, distinguishing it from football, as does the phenomenon known as scrum. But I don’t really know what scrum is other than a bunch of players mashing together in a big blob. (That’s probably not a technical rugby term.) I know they tackle each other and wear a lot less padding than American football players. It’s a rough game for a bunch of players wearing short pants. But I don’t understand the part about scoring tries or how a penalty kick works.
If you are a dedicated rugby fan, you’ve probably already given up on me in disgust.
Here is the problem with all of that. We have guests from Australia arriving today. They are deer friends whom we’ve known since the 1970’s. But their son and our daughter will also be with them as well as their grandson. And our son and grandson will join us all next week. That means that the younger generation would like to talk about something other than old times.
Our Australian guests are motorcycle people and are glad to be arriving during the rally.
And The Australian women’s rugby team beat New Zealand 24-17 to win the first ever Olympic rugby sevens gold medal. It’s big news in Australia. Canada beat Great Britain for the bronze medal. The Australia team outscored New Zealand four tries to three, with two of those tries while New Zealand’s Portia Woodman was in the sin bin. You’d think a minister would know what a sin bin is, don’t you. I’m trying to figure out how the score was 24 to 17 if they scored four tries to three. You’d think the score would have been 24 to 18, wouldn’t you.
I think it would be good for me to do a lot of listening and to avoid trying to offer my expertise on any subject for the next week or so.
Unless they want to talk about the Cubs.
I do know where to go on the Internet to find a table of medals awarded, so I know that the US is leading in the overall medal count followed by Japan, Russia, Italy and Australia. Given the number of Russian athletes who failed to qualify the medal count is impressive, though only two of Russia’s 10 medals are gold. But that is about it for what I know about the Olympics. I haven’t watched a single competition live and I didn’t even look up video footage of the opening ceremonies, choosing to look at a few still photos instead.
That is only one aspect of my cultural deprivation. There are a lot of things I don’t know. I don’t go to movies often and haven’t kept up with the summer blockbusters. I’ve been meaning to go to the new Star Trek movie, and I heard that the new Ice Age movie is fun. Other hit movies don’t hold much appeal for me. I don’t like the name “Suicide Squad,” and I see enough of suicide in real life to think that it can’t possibly be entertainment. I’ve skipped all the other Bourne movies and we are currently without pets, so their secret lives is not very intriguing to me at the moment.
If you want to have an in depth conversation with me, the topics of television and movies might be good to avoid.
Then there is the subject of motorcycles. You’d think that anyone living where I do would have some knowledge and expertise about the Sturgis Rally and Races. After all, we’re surrounded by motorcycles. I’ve learned to be a cautious driver and look very carefully for motorcycles. I want all of the riders to enjoy the hills and remain safe as they do. I’m the right age to recognize some of the concert headliners such as Willie Nelson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Wolfman Jack. But Five Finger Death Punch, Pop Evil, Sweet Cyanide, The Flaunt Girls, Reformed Whores, and the Living Deads don’t sound like acts a minister should be familiar with in the first place. I enjoy looking at the beautiful paint jobs on the bikes parked on main street, but I am not informed about the different brands, different engine sizes, and other features of motorcycles. The biggest motorcycle I’ve ever ridden is a Honda 350 and I haven’t ridden a motorcycle in about 40 years.
I don’t have any tattoos and have no plans on getting one this year.
The Sturgis Rally is big news in our town, but I’m not really in a position to engage in intelligent conversation on the subject.
My cultural ignorance is generally accepted by my friends who are able to talk about canoes, kayaks, hiking, the animals of the hills, religion, fiction, science, poetry and other topics about which I have some knowledge.
And I’m always willing to talk about the Chicago Cubs. Holding strong at the front of their division with the best record in baseball this year. After a mere century and a bit since a world series win, this could be the year.
Here is the problem. Movies, television and motorcycles aren’t the only topics about which I lack information and expertise.
I know nothing about rugby.
I know one team has the ball and the other team defends until the offensive team loses the ball or scores. I know that a forward pass is illegal in the game, distinguishing it from football, as does the phenomenon known as scrum. But I don’t really know what scrum is other than a bunch of players mashing together in a big blob. (That’s probably not a technical rugby term.) I know they tackle each other and wear a lot less padding than American football players. It’s a rough game for a bunch of players wearing short pants. But I don’t understand the part about scoring tries or how a penalty kick works.
If you are a dedicated rugby fan, you’ve probably already given up on me in disgust.
Here is the problem with all of that. We have guests from Australia arriving today. They are deer friends whom we’ve known since the 1970’s. But their son and our daughter will also be with them as well as their grandson. And our son and grandson will join us all next week. That means that the younger generation would like to talk about something other than old times.
Our Australian guests are motorcycle people and are glad to be arriving during the rally.
And The Australian women’s rugby team beat New Zealand 24-17 to win the first ever Olympic rugby sevens gold medal. It’s big news in Australia. Canada beat Great Britain for the bronze medal. The Australia team outscored New Zealand four tries to three, with two of those tries while New Zealand’s Portia Woodman was in the sin bin. You’d think a minister would know what a sin bin is, don’t you. I’m trying to figure out how the score was 24 to 17 if they scored four tries to three. You’d think the score would have been 24 to 18, wouldn’t you.
I think it would be good for me to do a lot of listening and to avoid trying to offer my expertise on any subject for the next week or so.
Unless they want to talk about the Cubs.